Sparkey Machine Question

[RogerS]

..... so I turned round to see the domestic extension lead still coiled up in its plastic drum and the 13A plug plugged into it.....smoking away..!!! I immediately turned it off......

And on most (if not all) extension leads on a drum it's clearly marked to unreel the cable especially when being used on a heavy load. Better ones have a thermal trip for precisely this reason when the reel is being used by muppets.

But 4500W is 18 amps which would have blown the 13A fuse..so something's not right there in terms of data on the rating panel..

We'll leave the morality (or lack of IMO) of patio heaters - gas or electric. Has your mate never heard of global warming ?

 

[Distinterior]

..... so I turned round to see the domestic extension lead still coiled up in its plastic drum and the 13A plug plugged into it.....smoking away..!!! I immediately turned it off......

And on most (if not all) extension leads on a drum it's clearly marked to unreel the cable especially when being used on a heavy load. Better ones have a thermal trip for precisely this reason when the reel is being used by muppets.

But 4500W is 18 amps which would have blown the 13A fuse..so something's not right there in terms of data on the rating panel..

We'll leave the morality (or lack of IMO) of patio heaters - gas or electric. Has your mate never heard of global warming ?

I think he felt buying an Electric model was going to be better for the environment than a Gas version.....!!!??? There was a lot in the News about the impact Gas heaters were supposed to be having on the environment at that time.....

Since this incident, I dont think he has used it ,....So, its impact on the environment has been minimal.

 

[Ttrees]

I have a related question regarding extension leads.
If one was to test the wiring from a workshop, to the house...
Would plugging a thin extension lead there, and trying
out a moderate load on it, whats rated higher than cables rating,
be a good test to find out any possible bodgery of thinner wire inbetween the heavy duty cable from workshop to the house..

I have recently bought one of those infrared thermometer guns, and was thinking I might get it from the folks to check the heavy cable going into the 30a MCB.

My question is whether the extra resistance of this thin extension lead plugged in at the workshop, would show up, say 30 or 40 feet away, on the heavy gauge cooker cable, which is fitted to a 30a MCB in the CU in the house?
I could just follow the cable and check for joins, but was wondering if this would be a first indication.

Never heated up my wee leads to the touch from my stuff thankfully, but hear about it.

 

[sunnybob]

Am I reading this right?
you want to have a 30 metre slowblow inline fuse with your workshop, just to see if the fuse or the workshop bursts into flames first? :shock: =D> =D>
No, no, a thousand times no.

Check the terminals at each end of the circuit visually. Are they the same size and colour at both ends? if so, are they the correct size for the intended use.
If not, then you have to find the hidden join and rectify.
Each fuse (mcb .rcd.whatever) will have a rating printed on it. Is it the correct rating for the circuit?
Basic earth testing is very simple (yes, I do know about ohms law) done with even the cheapest multitester.
Destruction testing is just that. once its tested, you have to rip it all out and start again anyway.
As a last resort, and only if you feel you may have a serious problem, isolate all circuits and go around checking each connection for tightness. loose connections, especially on the neutral lines, are a major cause of electrical fires.

 

[RogerS]

....(yes, I do know about ohms law) ....

I'd hoped you would. I was referring to the various muppets you described.

Incidentally, I edited that last post and added a couple of questions for clarification..

 

[RogerS]

I have a related question regarding extension leads.
If one was to test the wiring from a workshop, to the house...
Would plugging a thin extension lead there, and trying
out a moderate load on it, whats rated higher than cables rating,
be a good test to find out any possible bodgery of thinner wire inbetween the heavy duty cable from workshop to the house..

I have recently bought one of those infrared thermometer guns, and was thinking I might get it from the folks to check the heavy cable going into the 30a MCB.

My question is whether the extra resistance of this thin extension lead plugged in at the workshop, would show up, say 30 or 40 feet away, on the heavy gauge cooker cable, which is fitted to a 30a MCB in the CU in the house?
I could just follow the cable and check for joins, but was wondering if this would be a first indication.

Never heated up my wee leads to the touch from my stuff thankfully, but hear about it.

I'm not 100% sure of what your concern is. Are you thinking that the cable/whatever from house to workshop might be made up of various cables joined together to give you your required length ? How far is the workshop from the house? can you visually see the cable run (probably not else you wouldn't be asking!)

 

[Ttrees]

I was just thinking if I were in a different workshop, and it wasn't apparent where the cables were.
Say, roughly all the sheds around here are the same distance away from the CU's in the house.

Should there be no minute detection of heat going coming from a heavy duty cooker cable into the consumer unit at all times?
Never even looked at the infrared thermometer twice, just was trying to think of other ways of applicable uses in the workshop.
I could have done a test here the last time if I had it with me, I was welding so could have answered my own question.
Just kinda asked, as it might answer other questions, that I wouldn't have thought of asking.

 

[sunnybob]

Theres no substitute for local expert knowledge. If youre not sure about electrics, ask all you friends and find someone who has a good reputation to check it all out.

Having said that, i have seen "experts" that I would not allow to work on my property, so its basically a crap shoot, but try to get the odds in your favour.

Most faults can be found by close visual inspection (brown or burnt areas around connections, smell of burning inside a joint box or consumer unit, even seeing bare wire strands poking out the end of connections where the "expert" has trimmed too much insulation)

Earth testing is VERY IMPORTANT! It wont stop your shed burning down in an incident involving overloaded circuits or loose connections, but it WILL stop you being electrocuted.

You can actually use your extension lead as an earth testing circuit. Set your multitester to ohms smallest number, and check the number you get through the extension lead earth from the house to the shed earth. It should be a very small number about 0.2 oms up to a maximum of 1 ohm if you have a long circuit.
But first check the number you get through the extension lead on its own, then take that number away from the number you get on the entire circuit.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Theres no substitute for local expert knowledge. If youre not sure about electrics, ask all you friends and find someone who has a good reputation to check it all out.
Having said that, I have seen "experts" that I would not allow to work on my property ...

When I bought my second Victorian house I did a quick clean up, painting everything white. I came to do an alcove cupboard and found a loop of 2.5mm in the bottom - someone obviously intended to put a socket there at some time. I thought great, I'll fit one as there were none anywhere near it and it would tidy the wiring up. The consumer unit was in the basement so as I was working alone I plugged a radio into the next socket on the ring and went downstairs and pulled all the fuses. I put back the one I thought was correct and the radio came on. I pulled that one and put the rest back............ the radio came on. I took the cover off the unit - all the tails were mixed up, the immersion and the basement lights were on one fuse, the cooker and the upstairs lights on another ...
An hour or two with a multi tester and everything was put back with the correct fuses and labelled.
I was in the local that Friday and a friend said you've a hell of load of work on, but there's one thing at least - your electrics will be fine. I asked why he thought that and he said because the guy I'd bought the house from was a qualified electrician. :shock: :lol:

 

[RogerS]

I was replacing the consumer unit in a flat in London. The flats were renovated in the early 50's using single core cable inside metal conduit. I removed the incoming fuse that fed the flat from the landing cupboard and took it with me. I double-checked that the mains into the flat was definitely dead. It was.

I undid all the wires from the existing consumer unit and started reconnecting them into the new CU in situ. My knuckle happened to touch an unconnected neutral and I got a belt. I quickly realised what had happened. The muppets who wired the flats up cocked up and fed one of my neutrals into a neighbouring flat and vice versa.